Description
Book SynopsisLeonidas Polk was one of the more notable, yet controversial, generals of the US Civil War. Recognising his indispensable familiarity with the Mississippi Valley, Confederate president Jefferson Davis commissioned his elevation to a high military position regardless of his lack of prior combat experience.
Trade ReviewThere are those who have maintained that General Leonidas Polk did more to bring about Confederate defeat than any other single man. Certainly he stood at the center of the toxic command culture of the Army of Tennessee from 1862 until his death. We have long needed a modern biography of this contradictory man, and Hudson Horn has delivered that and more. His research is stunning in its breadth, and his treatment of Polk is reasoned, mature, and balanced. This is the best Confederate military biography of recent years."" - William C. Davis, author of
Crucible of Command: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee—The War They Fought, the Peace They Forged""A long-overdue reevaluation of the Civil War's most recognizable soldier-cleric. Huston Horn's meticulous research and balanced presentation reveal the complexities, strengths, and weaknesses of Leonidas Polk: churchman, plantation farmer, Southern nationalist, and soldier. Horn's study does much to dispel the almost caricatured image of Polk that frequently appears in modern Civil War history."" - Sam Davis Elliott, author of
Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West
